Torment
by Star Stuff99
Summary: It was just a simple puzzle, no sweat. ...Right? [Light DerekxAngie] Complete!
1. Torment

"Hey, Stiles. C'mere a sec." Victor, the black haired researcher of Caduceus USA beckoned to Dr. Derek Stiles, one of the main surgeons.

"Oh, uh, okay." Derek walked into a small room littered with glass vials, syringes, and whatnot. Angie Thompson was also standing by a cramped table on the far side of the room.

"Hello, Dr. Stiles." Angie greeted Derek warmly, and Victor growled.

"Enough of that, I need you to do something, Stiles." Victor pointed to what looked like a puzzle, scattered in many colored pieces, a pair of forceps, and a colorless solution to the puzzle.

Derek backed away. "Oh no, I'm not good at puzzles. Actually, that's an understatement. I SUCK at puzzles. Please don't make me do this. No, I'm serious."

"Too bad, Stiles. You're doing it anyway." Victor snarled. Derek decided not to argue.

-----

"So, here's the deal. I need you to help me design a nanomachine to help defeat the GUILT that's invading Secretary Anderson's body. To do that, I need you to solve a puzzle. Obviously, a genius like me would choose the quickest solution, but I need someone, uh… well, you know… yeah. I need someone who's not quite as adept at academic studies as me." Victor finished with a slight cough that sounded suspiciously like "you".

"If you think I'm an idiot, just say so." Derek muttered under his breath.

"Anyways, all you need to do is solve this puzzle. Good luck! Not." Victor stalked towards the other side of his lab, fiddling with some sort of experiment that looked like frozen vomit mixed with mashed potatoes.

"Um, okay, let's give it a try." Derek gulped, picking up the pair of forceps and grasping one of the puzzle pieces.

"Good luck, Doctor." Angie smiled. "You'll do fine."

At least Angie was sincere.

-----

(End chapter one.)

(Yes, this is my second attempt at a Trauma Center fanfiction. It's based on the puzzles that Derek does to get rid of Pempti for the first time. Sorry this chapter's short. It's more of the pre-op chapter thing.)

(Disclaimer: I don't own Trauma Center or any of the characters. Most of the text is actually in the game.)


	2. Happy Day

**5: 50 PM**

"You can't just place the pieces wherever you feel like; you have to think about where to put them." Angie paused. "Why are you doing that with your face?"

Indeed, Derek's face was twisted in a mixture of a grimace and a smile. He rearranged his features hurriedly. "Um, yeah, anyway…"

Picking up a red piece of the puzzle and glancing at the colorless solution, Derek's mind whirled as he thought about where to put it. He set it down in one spot, and then picked up another piece. Angie watched him intently.

**6: 00 PM, Ten minutes later…**

"You really aren't good at puzzles, are you, Doctor?" Angie asked with a tone that sounded amused and stern at the same time.

Derek moved a red piece and put a blue one in its place. Then he moved the blue piece and put a yellow piece there instead. The red piece lay on the side of the puzzle, almost forgotten. A green colored piece was put on the left side of the yellow piece, while the blue piece was on the right.

**6: 30 PM, Half an hour later…**

"Hey, Derek, ready for some dinner...?"

Derek jumped as Tyler pulled up a stool beside him, grinning. His grin faded as he examined the progress that Derek had made, which was none.

"You're still working on that? I could just tell you the answer…"

"NO!" Derek shouted loudly, causing Victor to scowl and Tyler to fall off the stool.

Angie strode over to Victor's table and examined the frozen vomit mix. "What is this? A test for nuclear poisoning?" She asked, smirking.

Victor scowled even more deeply, and threw a cloth over the mixture. "Back off, and don't touch it."

**6: 50 PM, Twenty minutes later…**

"…" Derek was alone in the lab; everyone else had gone down to eat dinner. Tyler had come back first to ask him if he was going to stay all night and become Victor's apprentice. It was a beautiful moment, in Derek's opinion, when Angie overheard and slapped Tyler.

Derek had taken all the pieces off the puzzle and started over, making the puzzle progress zero.

"You could stop, I guess. Everyone else finished already." Victor was suddenly by Derek's side, looking at the puzzle disapprovingly. Derek said nothing, but continued to focus intently on the puzzle.

Like a bolt of lightning, inspiration suddenly hit him. He worked as fast as if his Healing Touch had activated, and in the span of ten seconds had almost all the pieces in the right place, with his forceps lingering over the last piece, before the last piece slipped smoothly into the last empty space of the puzzle. "FINALLY!" Derek shouted, standing up and stretching.

"You did it!" Angie said happily.

**7: 10 PM**

"Hmm…okay, thanks Stiles, I think I got it." Victor hurried off someplace else, no doubt to make the nanomachine.

"Great job, Dr. Stiles. I knew you could do it." Angie leaned against the surgeon's shoulder.

"I need food!" Derek whined, all but sprinting to the cafeteria, knocking over several nurses.

-----

(End chapter two. Wasn't that sweet? Tell me what you think and REVIEW!!!)

(This will actually be four chapters, one for each puzzle. Thank you for the reviews on the first chapter, everyone. I hope this chapter was to your liking. These chapters will probably be pretty short, sorry! But this one is longer!)

(See ya next chapter!)

(P.S. Did you know Angie and I have the same name? squee)


	3. Dungeon

(Aaaaaand, I'm back! You didn't think I forgot about this did you? Ha, I just can't really type on weekdays. But you can always expect a chapter on weekends.)

(I've probably kept you waiting long enough. You want to read it yes? And don't forget to review!)

(Oh yeah, aaaaugh! I keep forgetting to put the copyright stuff.)

(All characters belong to Atlus, along with some of the dialogue.)

"Stiles, I need you to do something." Victor tapped his foot impatiently, waiting for Derek to respond.

Derek shuddered, and slowly turned around, a look of horror pasted onto his face. "Is it another one of those stupid puzzles? I really hate those things."

"Unfortunately for you, yes, it's two puzzles. You want to save the secretary's life? Then you gotta do the puzzles." Victor literally dragged Derek back to the lab, causing several nurses and onlookers to snicker. Derek weakly said hi to Sidney Kasal as Victor dragged him past.

"Victor, don't choke him or I'll reduce your working hours." Sidney called without a glance back.

Victor immediately loosened his hold and allowed Derek to independently walk towards the lab.

Inside the lab, the frozen vomit mix from three days ago was still there. Derek winced involuntarily; the mix seemed to have grown little brown, black, and green spots of mold all over it. He suppressed the urge to empty his stomach, and glanced over at the table he had worked at last time.

Angie was there again, solving the puzzle herself. Along with Tyler, who was watching her. Derek caught a glimpse of Angie's completed puzzle before she hastily took out the pieces and mixed them up, and stood up. "Ready for more puzzles, Doctor?" She asked.

Derek groaned. "To be honest, no."

"You'll be fine." Angie assured him. "It only took you an hour last time." There was a hint of sarcasm in her tone, and Derek caught it.

"Very funny, Angie."

"ENOUGH OF THAT!" Victor bellowed, causing both of them to jump. He pointed a finger at Derek. "You know what to do, so get going."

Derek immediately scrambled into Angie's vacated seat and grabbed the forceps.

Tyler laughed. "He might not look like it, but Derek used to copy off my tests!"

"H-Hey, that was a long time ago!" Derek snapped, focusing his gaze on the puzzle.

**3: 30 PM**

**Start**

"These puzzles are a lot bigger than the last one, but don't worry, the theory is still pretty much the same." Angie lectured. "But that doesn't mean the puzzle is the same." She added as an afterthought.

Derek rolled his eyes. "That's a lot of comfort." Picking up a purple piece, he placed it in a random spot. A blue piece went next to it and a red piece was below the purple.

**3:40 PM**

"Hmm, I thought you'd be good at puzzles and things." Leslie Sears, one of the many nurses at Caduceus had stopped by to see where Tyler was. An amused look danced in her eyes.

Derek groaned. It was turning out just like last time, it took him hours to do it and everyone showed up to make fun of him. In his nervousness, Derek knocked over the tray of puzzles pieces, scattering them over the floor. "Gah!" Derek scrambled around trying to gather them up, and his hand and Angie's met on the same puzzle piece.

"Um…" A small blush formed on Angie's cheeks, and she picked up the puzzle piece, handing it to Derek.

"Thanks…"

**4:00 PM**

"Speed isn't everything, concentrate, and find your own answer." Dr. Stephen Clarks, another surgeon at Caduceus, had dropped by as well to see why everyone was holed up in Victor's lab, which he hinted was cramped and messy.

"I finally did it!" Derek shouted suddenly, startling everyone.

"Hmm, that doesn't look like the solution…" Angie remarked, looking at Derek's puzzle and the solution. "Nope."

"Huh? You're kidding me. I have to do this again?" Derek moaned as Angie took out all the pieces and replaced them on the tray.

"Hurry up Stiles, I don't have all day." Victor paused. "Well, I do, but I don't want to spend it with you."

**4:30 PM**

Half an hour later found Derek muttering every swearword he knew under his breath, the puzzle almost done except for one piece that didn't quite fit in the empty space.

"It looks like there are problems your Healing Touch can't solve." Even Sidney had come in to watch Derek struggle futilely against the evil enemy that was the puzzle. Tyler and Leslie had long since left to 'do some important business' as Tyler put it. Dr. Clarks was on the verge of leaving as well when magically Derek somehow completed the puzzle.

"Ugh, I can't feel my hands." Derek gasped. "Am I done?"

"No, there's another one." Angie pointed to the other puzzle on the corner of the table that Derek had missed.

"…Crap."

"Don't look so down. Come on, let's try the next one!" Angie smiled at him, which lightened Derek's mood considerably.

"Victor owes me when I'm done with these stupid puzzles."

(End chapter three.)

(You guys kind of depressed me, I mean, what's so bad about the puzzles? They're one of my favorite parts of the game. In the mission with two puzzles, it only took me five minutes to solve the first one. Also, it IS possible to get all the puzzle pieces in the puzzle and have it wrong.)

(See ya next time!)


	4. Breakthrough

(No, I'm not dead. Thanks for asking even though you didn't. Anyway, sorry for not putting this up earlier, I was on Thanksgiving vacation. Anyway, that's about it. Enjoy! )

"This better be the last freaking puzzle, Victor…" Derek mumbled under his breath, putting in piece after piece after piece, after piece. And taking them all out.

"Screw this." Derek swore. Sidney raised his eyebrows, a hint of a smirk tugging at the edge of his lips.

"You know, Derek, I never thought the famed surgeon who can operate successfully against GUILT would be shamed by a puzzle."

"Yeah, Derek, you're getting owned by a puzzle!" Tyler reentered the room, grinning again. Leslie had not come back with him. "You're getting puzzle raped!"

His whole face flaming red, Derek tried his best to ignore it. "I'd like to see you try, Tyler."

"No problem dude, make room for the MASTER." Tyler slid into Derek's seat, knocking him to the floor.

Ten seconds later, "Done!" Tyler proclaimed. Derek only caught a glimpse of it before Tyler messed it up again.

"Crap. Okay, give me my seat back." Derek slid into the seat and began tackling the puzzle again.

**4:40 PM**

"Dr. Stiles, would you like me to help?" Angie asked. Then she seemed to have second thoughts. "…Actually, that would really defeat the purpose of this puzzle."

The second puzzle was a bit easier than the first, but still hard enough for Derek to get insanely annoyed at it. Half the pieces were in, and the rest in a jumbled mess.

Victor was still experimenting with the frozen vomit mold, casting a scowl over at the small group every so often.

**5:10 PM**

"You've always been bad at these things, Stiles." Tyler smirked, still wandering around the lab despite Victor's threats of disembowelment if he broke anything.

"This is as bad as it-" Derek started to say.

"Don't just stand there, get a bucket of water you good for nothing idiot!!" Victor barked at Tyler suddenly, who had been playing around with a match and had somehow set the frozen vomit block on fire.

"Right, right, I'm on it!" Tyler dashed out of the room and reappeared the next second with a cup of coffee. Dousing it over the flaming vomit, the coffee did nothing except give the flames a coffee scent.

Derek just stared.

"You son of a-" Victor snatched up a bucket and ran out of the lab, soon coming back in with the bucket full of water and splashing it over the flames. It went out instantly.

"Sorry." Tyler said meekly.

Derek decided to concentrate on the puzzle and not pay attention to Victor yelling swearwords and curses at Tyler behind him.

**5:30 PM**

"Hey Doctor, are you done yet?" Angie stuck her head into Victor's lab. "I-whoa, what happened?" Angie asked, eyeing the scorch marks and the wet spots on the desk where the vomit once stood.

"I don't think you want to know." Derek said seriously, placing an orange puzzle piece in the puzzle.

"I can't believe its taking you this long… Very amusing." Victor seemed to have gotten over his bad mood and was watching Derek struggle again.

**5:50 PM**

Derek sighed with relief, having completed the puzzle at last. He placed the forceps on the table, and glanced around.

"You finished it already?" Derek jumped as Victor appeared out of nowhere and examined the puzzle.

"Great job, Dr. Stiles." Angie glanced at him. "You don't look well. Are you okay?"

"Heh, I'll be fine." Derek ran a finger through his hair. "But I don't want to do another puzzle as long as I live."

"Hmm, I think I got it. Thanks, Stiles." Victor examined the completed puzzle.

"Wow, that was almost a compliment." Derek whispered to Angie, who smiled.

"Overall, you only contributed about one percent," Victor continued. Derek sighed. "I had the rest of Caduceus helping out the whole time. Anyway, get out of here already."

As Derek and Angie exited the lab, they heard Victor shouted at the other researchers, "Hey, get to work! No sleep tonight guys!" And audible groans were heard.

"What's the chance that Victor shows up half way through dinner announcing he found the solution?" Angie asked as they entered their office.

"My guess, a hundred and twenty percent." Derek laughed, and stopped as Angie's hand brushed against his. His face turned slightly red, but he hurried off to his desk to finish the paperwork that he had put off yesterday.

"Good luck finishing the paperwork, Dr. Stiles." Angie smirked.

"Yeah, yeah, I know, I should have done it yesterday. Don't give me that lecture again." Derek groaned, filling out forms as fast as he could.

(End chapter four.)

(And Torment.)

(Well, I hope you all had fun reading Torment! I should probably start my Kirby story now, not that any of you care because you're Trauma Center people. But yeah, thanks for reviewing Torment, and good luck with all of your stories!)


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